On November 11, 2013, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a round table "Economic, socio-political, and ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries", organized by the Center for Research on General Problems of the Modern East (CIOPSV IB RAS) (responsible for the organization: O. P. Bibikova, N. N. Tsvetkova). The round table was attended by employees of the CIOPSV, the Center for Economic Research, the Center for the Near and Middle East, other departments of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, employees of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences, undergraduates of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University.

The work was carried out in three areas: economic problems of the Eastern countries; socio-political problems; ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries. The round table was opened by O. P. Bibikova (IB RAS).

N. N. Tsvetkova (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation on " BRICS Asian TNCs and the Future Development of BRICS. Breakthrough Economies of the next Decade". Will the BRICS countries maintain their economic momentum in the next decade? Will there be new leaders in terms of economic growth among Afro-Asian countries? R. Sharma, Head of the Emerging Markets Department of the largest American investment corporation Morgan Stanley, sees the prospects of becoming breakthrough economies in the next decade in Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines, and Nigeria [Sharma, 2013, pp. 329-335]. R. Sharma assesses the prospects of the BRICS countries rather negatively. He speaks about the expected slowdown in growth in China, which, however, at the achieved level of economic development will remain one of the world's leading economies, the reduction in China's demand for raw materials due to the slowdown in growth, on the one hand, and the development of alternative energy, the use of energy-saving technologies, on the other. The decline in China's demand for raw materials may negatively affect the BRICS countries that depend on raw materials exports-Russia, South Africa and Brazil.

Indeed, Tsvetkova noted that in 2013 the BRICS countries ' growth rates slowed down, and according to the IMF experts, this caused a slowdown in the dynamics of global GDP as a whole. At the same time, economic growth rates in the BRICS Asian countries remained significantly higher than in most other countries. The GDP growth rate in 2013, according to preliminary data of the British Economist magazine published in November 2013, was: in China-7.7%, in India-5%, in Brazil - 2.5%, in South Africa - 1.9%, in Russia-1.5%. They were 4.5% in Malaysia, 3.2% in Turkey, 3.5% in Singapore, 2.8% in South Korea, 3.8% in Thailand, and 2% in Taiwan. High GDP growth rates of 6.2% were recorded in Pakistan. The slowdown in economic growth affected the largest developed countries: growth rates reached 1.6% in the US, 1.9% in Japan, 1.4% in the UK, 0.5% in Germany and 0.1% in France. In the euro area as a whole, GDP contracted by 0.4%, in Greece by 4%, in Italy - by 1.8%, in Spain - by 1.3%, in the Netherlands - by 1.2%. The BRICS Asian countries-China and India-are still the leaders in terms of economic growth, although more moderate than before.

R. Sharma's approach to assessing the prospects for economic development of countries is interesting, analyzing which he considers the list of their billionaires, the size of the state of the latter, including in comparison with the country's GDP. An important indicator for assessing the country's development prospects is the share of billionaires associated with high-tech industries [Sharma, 2013, p. 65-70]. Similarly, it is possible to analyze the scope of activity of TNCs from the BRICS countries, in particular, what place among the largest corporations in the country is occupied by companies in innovative industries. In total, 182 companies and banks from China (including Hong Kong), 56 from India, 31 from Brazil, 30 from Russia, and 19 from South Africa were among the 2 thousand leading global companies from the Forbes list for 2013. Of the 72 companies in the Forbes rating that produce ICT products (computer equipment, data storage devices, communications, electronic equipment, consumer and consumer electronics), more than 1/3 were companies from Eastern countries. Among the 27 software and computer services companies (industry leaders Microsoft and IBM), there were 8 companies from Eastern countries.

The prospects for preserving the BRICS as an association are positively influenced by the growing integration processes in the world. The agenda includes the establishment of TAFTA, a Transatlantic free Trade Zone with the participation of the United States and the EU. In Asia and the Pacific, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which includes the United States, Japan, but not China, is gaining weight. Under these conditions, developing and transition countries are seeking to strengthen their positions in the global market through integration associations , including the BRICS association of the largest emerging market countries.

A.V. Akimov (Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "Economic leadership in the group of developing countries and transition economies in the XXI century" noted that one of the important aspects of economic development in the XXI century is the problem of the leading group among developing countries and transition economies. The PRC has already reached the position of the second largest economy in the world. The question is whether this country can remain a leader and not only catch up with the United States, but also prevent other developing countries and transition economies from challenging their leadership.

There are two points of view on the future of the PRC in the XXI century. In accordance with the first one, the PRC will lose its primacy as a rapidly developing economy due to the aging of the population, the exhaustion of the demographic dividend associated with a favorable ratio of the working population and dependents. An increase in labor costs in China is inevitable, which will lead to a loss of international competitiveness of the Chinese economy. It will be replaced by other countries, including India, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, and later Africa, which will have cheaper labor to compete with China.

According to another view, the PRC will maintain its economic leadership by changing its development model. This change will be associated with an increase in labor productivity, the development of scientific and technological progress, and changes in the sectoral structure of the economy. Chinese products will become more expensive, but at the same time better quality. China will remain the world's workshop, although some of the industries based on cheap labor will move to other countries.

These two scenarios seem very real, but the probability of implementation of each of them is uncertain. At the same time, their impact on the global economy, and especially on developing countries and countries with economies in transition, is very large. In the first case, it is important to determine who will take the lead from China, which country or countries will become the growth leaders and will successfully move along the path of catching up development. In the second case, the question arises whether other countries will be able to achieve the same success in catching up with China, or whether the PRC is blocking their path to economic growth, remaining the world's leader for the coming decades due to its scale, accumulated economic power, and potential for transition to new growth models based on scientific and technological developments.technical achievements.

Even after the population stabilizes and begins to decline in the second half of the twenty-first century. China will have a working-age population of about 600 million people, which will provide both a large scale of production and a large domestic market. China has built up significant production capacity. For example, in the iron and steel industry, steel production in China exceeds the total production of North America, Europe, and Japan. Once China has saturated its domestic market, the industry's production capacity can be used for external expansion, making it uncompetitive to set up new iron and steel production facilities in other developing and transition countries. In this case, the greatest problems will be experienced by India as a country comparable to the PRC in terms of the scale of problems and in need of high economic growth rates. Other developing countries can find their place in the global economy as suppliers of various raw materials and products for the PRC, integrating into the Chinese model of economic growth.

It is obvious that such a model of development for the modern world economy is only being formed, but some of its features are already visible not only in the states closest to China, for example, Mongolia,but also in African countries, in which the PRC invests funds to access local raw materials. In this row, there is also a reorientation of a significant number of agricultural producers in Argentina and Brazil to the production of soybeans for export to China.

The development scenario described above is fraught with various conflicts in the economic sphere, which can also create new political contradictions in the group of developing and transition countries. The participation of the largest and most powerful Western countries in these conflicts can give rise to large-scale confrontations and open conflicts at the regional and global levels. Thus, the future model of development of the PRC economy will have a pain-

uioe influences economic and political processes not only in Asia, but also around the world. Studying the features and variants of this model and the consequences of its implementation should become a constant topic of research not only for Sinologists, but also for a wide range of Orientalists, both economists and political scientists.

T. N. Deitch (Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation on "BRICS Cooperation with African countries". The BRICS interest in cooperation with Africa is largely driven by the continent's resource potential. The BRICS Action Program, contained in the documents of its summits, includes assistance in implementing Africa's food security strategy, cooperation in the fields of energy, new technologies, and innovation policy; joint search for models for modernizing political systems and social structures; and cooperation in reforming the global governance system and developing infrastructure.

China is most active in Africa, seeking to use the potential of the BRICS to increase its influence on the continent and have an additional trump card in negotiations with Washington. Chinese President Xi Jinping has made one of his first visits as head of state to Africa. China has become the main trading partner of African countries, ahead of the United States. According to Zhong Jianhua, China's Special Representative for Africa, China has invested $ 45 billion in Africa in 2012, including $ 15 billion. total accumulated FDI to the continent's countries. In 50 African countries, 1,673 projects with a total value of $ 75.4 billion were implemented in the new millennium, which are classified as official development assistance (ODA) and other official financing (OOF), primarily in the areas of education, health, and infrastructure, transport, and energy. China is a leader in creating African infrastructure: it implements infrastructure projects in 35 African countries [Interview with Chinese Ambassador..., 2012].

India, a long-standing partner of the continent's countries, is expanding its presence in Africa. Indian companies, both private and public, are active in Africa. Among the implemented projects, we can mention the construction of a power plant by Tata Steel in Zambia. Brazil also strengthens ties with African countries. Africa accounts for about 55% of the aid distributed by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (BCA), while 74% is received by Portuguese-speaking countries [Brazil-Africa..., 2013]. The role of South Africa, a country with experience in initiating and developing modern economic strategies (NEPAD) and practical experience in regional economic integration, is becoming increasingly visible on the continent. South Africa is the only country on the continent with world-class technology. South Africa offers to use it as a "gateway" to Africa.

E. N. Korendyasov (Institute of African Studies) spoke about Russia's cooperation with African countries. He stressed that the axis of the world economy is moving to the East, and Russia in its economic relations is still oriented to the West. This trend should be reversed. Russia and the countries of Africa have common strategic interests. Now Western countries often say that it is necessary to make natural resources the common heritage of mankind. Russia and African countries, as producers of raw materials, are interested in defending their sovereignty over natural resources.

Russia's cooperation with African countries is noticeably smaller in scale than Sino-African cooperation, but still, there are Russian entrepreneurs in every African country. Lukoil operates in 10 African countries, and it has discovered new oil fields in Ghana. Gazprom is building a gas pipeline in Nigeria. Vekselberg Group develops manganese ores in South Africa. Russia's problem is the weak participation of medium-sized Russian businesses in African projects. For the Chinese, large projects are overgrown with a whole network of Chinese medium-sized enterprises-subcontractors, but Russia does not have this.

A.V. Kiva (Institute of International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "BRICS as a geopolitical reality" noted that the majority of Russian Sinologists speak of China as a friendly country, with which, by the will of Russia's geopolitical position, we must have good neighborly, if not friendly, relations and, if possible, mutually beneficial cooperation. As long as it is profitable for China, it will be a member of the SCO and BRICS, while defending its own interests. At the same time, even if the factor of economic cooperation does not play a big role, BRICS will retain its significance as a geopolitical reality that meets the interests of the countries participating in this association.

A significant part of the population of most Afro-Asian countries is engaged in agriculture. I. V. Deryugina (IB RAS) devoted her report to a comparative analysis of two technological methods of production (TSP) in agriculture in Western and Eastern countries: labor-saving

TSP and land-saving TSP. The labor-saving TSP (it was formed in European agriculture and later spread to North America and Oceania) was based on the use of labor-saving means of production and the use of a large economic area, which allows you to get the effect of economies of scale. The land-saving TSP was originally developed in the agriculture of Asian countries, it reflected the type of production in which saving land, rather than saving labor, was a determinant parameter of economic growth in the agrosphere. The long-term evolution of agriculture in Western and Eastern countries within the framework of the initial TSP has led to the fact that the trajectories along which the agricultural sectors of these countries are currently developing, the target settings of production activities, the structural characteristics of agricultural production, and the directions for implementing scientific and technological progress are different for the two groups of countries.

According to the TSP in agriculture, the country can be divided into four options. The first type-the classic labor-saving TSP-emerged during the colonization of territories with free land suitable for cultivation; based on the adaptation of technologies already formed in the countries of Western European labor-saving TSP-in Canada, Australia, the United States, Russia (Krasnodar, Stavropol Territory, Volga Region), Kazakhstan.

The second type of Western European labor-saving TSP was formed in the countries of Western, Northern, and Southern Europe, parts of Eastern Europe, and Turkey. Its essential feature is the limited availability of free land. Therefore, the requirements of the Western European labor-saving TSP for the intensity of tillage and restoration of its fertility turned out to be higher, and the size of the cultivated area per employee is lower than in the agriculture of the countries of the classical labor-saving TSP.

The third type-classic land-saving TSP is typical for most countries of South, Southeast, East Asia and Egypt. It began to form in Asian countries during the transition of agriculture from shifting systems to steam (like a two-field system, as opposed to a three-field system in Western European countries) systems, and later to a labor-intensive Asian model. In historical dynamics, the lack of integration of agriculture and animal husbandry has led to the fact that with the change of agricultural systems - from less intensive to more intensive - the restoration of soil fertility has required increasing labor costs of agricultural workers.

The fourth type-land-saving TSP in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, in terms of its characteristics, on the one hand, is not a classic land - saving TSP, but, on the other, it does not even come close to its labor-saving variants.

The prospects for the development of Eastern countries are largely determined by the development of innovative industries in them, their familiarization with the latest achievements of the information and communication revolution. E. R. Amirov (ISAA MSU) made a presentation on the topic: "Arabic on the Internet: problems of content creation". He began his speech with the words of Bill Gates: "If you are not on the Internet, then you are not at all." In 2011, the most widely used language on the Internet was English, with users of English-language websites accounting for 26.8% of the total number of Internet users in the world, and the number of Internet users in English (565 million) reached 43.4% of those speaking this language (1.3 billion people). In 2011, the number of Chinese-language users came close to the number of English-speaking users - 509 million people (24.2% of the total number of Internet users in the world). Chinese was spoken by 1.372 billion people, and the number of Internet users in Chinese reached 24.2% of this number. The third largest number of users was Spanish speakers (164 million, 39.0% of all Spanish speakers). The fourth place was occupied by Japanese-speaking users, the fifth place - Portuguese-speaking users, the sixth - German-speaking users, the seventh-Arabic-speaking users (65 million), the eighth-Francophone users and, finally, the ninth place - Russian-speaking users. The highest share of Internet users was among German speakers (79.5%) and Japanese speakers (78.4%).

If the Arab countries ranked rather modestly in terms of the total number of users, then they ranked first in terms of the growth rate of the number of Internet users: from 2000 to 2011, the number of users in the Arab countries increased by 2501.2%. The second place is occupied by the growth in the number of Russian-speaking users (1825.8%), and the third place is occupied by Chinese - speaking users (1478.7%).

In the Middle East and North Africa region, 100 million Google searches were made every day in 2011, 54% of them in Arabic (the native language of the population), 34% in English, and 8% in French.

In terms of language usage on Internet sites, the absolute leader belongs to the English language - 54.7%. The second and third places, but with a huge lag behind the leader, are shared by Russian and German (5.9% each), Chinese takes the sixth place (4.4% of sites). Arabic ranks only twelfth in terms of the number of sites (1.2%), not only after the languages of the top 10 countries, but also after Polish, Italian, and Turkish [W3Techs..., 2013].

The number of Facebook users in the Middle East and North Africa region increased by 68% between January and November 2011 alone. As of November 2012, the largest number of Facebook users among Arab countries was in Egypt (11.9 million) and in Saudi Arabia (5.9 million). The number of Facebook users in the Maghreb countries was significant: 5.0 million in Morocco, 4.0 million in Algeria, 3.3 million in Tunisia, in the smaller countries of the Persian Gulf: UAE 3.3 million, Kuwait 0.9 million, Qatar 0.7 million, also in Jordan (2.5 million), Iraq (2.4 million), Lebanon (1.6 million), PNA (0.9 million).

In 2011, there were 65 million Internet users in Arab countries, which accounted for 19% o of the region's population, which was lower than the average share of Internet users in the global population of 30%. E. R. Amirov stressed that the lack of development of Arabic content is an obstacle to the further dissemination of the Arabic language on the Internet. This is due to problems with handling sentences, encodings, and fonts. The issue of developing Arabic content is becoming one of the most important for the socio-economic development of the Arab world.

The round table focused on socio-economic and social problems of the Eastern countries. L. F. Pakhomova (IB RAS) in her report "Problems and prospects of socio-economic development of South-East Asian countries" considered the problem of corruption, which serves as a brake on economic development. Now the vice-president of Indonesia Habibi has come under fire of criticism. He is involved in the management of 40 to 50 companies. Khabibi was asked to close his private bank. The prospects for economic development in some Southeast Asian countries are also threatened by large-scale natural disasters.

In her report "Historical trends of urban evolution/development in the context of urban knowledge/cognition: paradigms, concepts, theories", Z. N. Galich (Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences) noted that the birth of the city, the formation of the urban environment and socio - cultural space meant the most important transition in the history of mankind-the transition from "barbarism to civilization". Since then, the " city "in the terms of the historian and philosopher L. P. Karsavin - the" first foundation", the" founder " of the historical existence of mankind - and civilization have become inseparable. It is natural that urbanization is a special universal of world history and, in fact, a key historical trend - "the path from the insignificant role of cities to their global significance".

Over the five or six millennia of their evolution, cities have gone from tribal and intertribal ritual-sacred, temple-palace settlements of agricultural communities to ancient Eastern city-states and ancient polis. Then - to the medieval cities and communes of Western Europe, when the city as a whole was a "paradigm of medieval culture" and a "metaphor of urbanized consciousness", to the East Asian imperial capitals, "centers of power and power of the center", to commercial and craft cities serving internal and external exchanges and contacts, and, finally, to industrial cities cities, modern industrial and urban complexes, giant multifunctional cities. Now these are megacities, megalopolises, and vast metropolitan areas. In recent decades, they have formed a special category of cities, which has been defined as global cities. They are the leading centers of the information and communication age.

In the discussion of the socio-political problems of the Eastern countries, the central place was occupied by the discussion on the problems of the "Arab Spring". The attention to this issue at the CIOPSW round table is not accidental.

R. G. Landa (Institute of Political Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a report on "The evolution of the Arab Spring and Islamism". He paid special attention to the events in Syria. Although a small part of the Syrian opposition demanded regime liberalization (and the regime partially agreed to it), the main part of Assad's opponents in Syria are supporters of Al-Qaeda and other Salafists who have shown themselves in Libya and partly in Egypt. When forming the so-called people's army from soldiers captured by the opposition or who have defected to it, methods of intimidation, bribery, blackmail and threats to kill their families, various provocations, attributing various crimes to the authorities, and imposing drug addiction are used.

Events in the Arab countries also concern Russia. Militants from the former Soviet Union - North Caucasians, Tatars, Kyrgyz, and Azerbaijanis-are fighting in Syria. The information about their integration into the "global jihad"is also alarming.

The actions of radical extremists have attracted the attention of the US ruling circles, who are concerned not only about terrorist attacks on their territory, but also about the growing influence of Salafists in Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey.

Radical Islamism, which has become a significant force on the world stage, is actually waging a war against the rest of the world (including Muslims who disagree with it). And it will enjoy the hidden, and in some places even open, support of an ever-growing part of the 1.5 billion Muslims, as long as their lot is poverty, unemployment, economic and cultural backwardness, low living standards, religious and national inequality.

A different point of view on the events in Syria was presented by V. M. Akhmedov (IB RAS) "The Syrian Revolution and prospects of political Islam in the region". He believes that the current armed conflict in Syria can be called an uprising of an armed people, which is supplied and financed primarily from "Islamist" sources. The people's militia units that have taken up arms have become dependent on those who supply them with weapons on the terms of their loyalty to the "Islamists".

V. M. Akhmedov claims that the transformation of the Syrian conflict into an inter-religious struggle was facilitated by Bashar al-Assad. Back in the spring of 2011. It has released tens of thousands of Islamic extremists from prison. Subsequently, many of them formed the backbone of the so-called "jihadist" units of the armed Syrian resistance. According to V. M. Akhmedov, during the armed conflict, the resistance and people's militia units were grouped around the Free Syrian Army and consisted mainly of defectors from the Assad army. They more or less successfully coordinated their military activities with the Military Council (Salim Idris) and sought to establish ties with the political opposition represented by the SNC (A. Jabra). Their main distinguishing feature was the presence of a strong secular component in the military-political structures and ideological views. However, in the conditions of an" asymmetric " war, the authorities used strike aircraft and artillery. This circumstance has contributed to the fact that "Islamists" have now come to the forefront of the armed and political confrontation in Syria, which, according to various estimates, make up from 40 to 60% of the armed resistance and claim political power after the departure of Bashar al-Assad. The possibility of "Islamists" coming to power and the prospect of creating an "Islamist" state in Syria worries the Syrians themselves, their regional neighbors, and many states of the West and East that would be ready to support the departure of Bashar al-Assad from power within the framework of the agreements of the planned peace conference on Syria in Geneva.

An important place at the round table was occupied by the discussion of ethno-confessional problems of the Eastern countries.

O. P. Bibikova's speech was devoted to the emigration of Chechens from the Russian Federation. This process began in the late 1990s. To date, several communities of natives of Chechnya have already formed in Europe, the total number of which is approaching 250 thousand. The largest number of refugees is in Austria, Belgium, France and Poland. It is noteworthy that the flow of Chechens applying for refugee status (especially in Germany) is increasing. At the same time, the authorities of European countries note an increase in crime among Chechen immigrants, unwillingness to obey European laws. Demanding that the host country comply with Islamic norms in everyday life, Chechen refugees themselves, while in temporary detention centers, periodically often get into fights with other asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, Somalia and Turkey. Law enforcement agencies of European countries have recorded the appearance of criminal groups engaged in "protecting" and knocking out debts, as well as transporting illegal immigrants. These circumstances forced the EU authorities to get in touch with the leadership of the Chechen Republic in order to find out the true reasons for each applicant's request, as well as to deport those who are involved in the criminal business. It became known that Chechen immigrants periodically return to their homeland, although their refugee status categorically prohibits them from visiting the "country of origin", where, as indicated in their asylum applications, they were subjected to discrimination and repression. To do this, they use fake passports. All these facts show that Chechens in Europe want to live according to their traditions and laws, ignoring the requirements imposed by local authorities on immigrants. Despite the measures taken by the Governments of European countries,

Including contacts with the Chechen government, it is not yet possible to prevent an increase in the flow of refugees from Chechnya. According to German customs authorities, several hundred people leave the Caucasus republic every month.

P. M. Sharipova (IB RAS) spoke about the magazine "Al-Fikriya" (literally translated from Arabic "Enlightenment") the monthly educational magazine of the secular opposition in Tunisia. The magazine is a mouthpiece for legal opposition organizations, such as the National Unity Party, the Progressive Democratic Party, the Democratic Forum for Labor and Freedom, and others. The magazine will be published in December 2012 in the industrial city of Sfax. It publishes articles that sharply criticize political Islam and, above all, the policies of the ruling Islamic Ennahda party, which cannot cope with corruption, unemployment among young people with higher education, rising food prices, infringement of women's rights, etc. It shows the development of democratic tendencies in Tunisia.

V. P. Kirichenko (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) spoke about the problems faced by the Shiite minority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Shiites make up between 10 and 15% of the country's population. About 80% of Shiites are Imamites, who live mainly in the Eastern Province (al-Hassa). In the provinces of Jizan (south-east of the country) and Najran (on the border with Yemen), there are Zaydi and Ismaili communities. After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, there were demonstrations by local Shiites, who were dispersed by National Guard units. Such a harsh attitude of the authorities towards the Shiite demonstrations was due to the fact that these events occurred almost simultaneously with the seizure of the Holy Mosque in Mecca. The majority of al-Hasa's Shiites are primarily oil workers. They demand that revenues from oil produced in the Eastern Province go to its development. It should be noted that KSA Shiites are widely employed in low-skilled jobs and do not hold senior positions in the kingdom's administration. The Saudi leadership ignores the interests of the Shiite minority. Traditionally, the Shiite minority is suspected of having ties to Iran. Discrimination against Shiites by the kingdom's authorities reflects the rivalry between the two countries for leadership in the Persian Gulf region. It should be added that the negative attitude towards Shiites is proclaimed by representatives of the Sunni clergy, who do not consider Shiites Muslims at all or consider some of their rituals as "the greatest polytheism" (al-shirk al-Akbar). The Saudis are also unhappy that Iran is seeking to strengthen its influence in the Arab world with the help of Shiite Arab countries.

S. B. Filatov (IB RAS) post-Soviet development of religious and social processes in the Republic of Adygea. The article analyzes the peculiarities of the synthesis of Islam and the traditional culture of the Adygeans, the traditional system of etiquette and moral norms (habze). Centripetal tendencies in the religious consciousness of Adygeans are considered: the emergence of radical Islam, the weakening of traditional culture, the search for new ways of developing the Islamic community, the emergence and growth of Christian communities in Adygeya. A new moment in the public life of the republic was the appearance of Adyghe immigrants who moved from Kosovo. Their ancestors left the Russian Empire in 1864 and were settled by the Ottoman authorities on the territory of Kosovo and other Balkan lands. After the Kosovo Albanians declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, the local Circassians decided to return to their homeland in Adygea. S. B. Filatov analyzed the peculiarities of the religious policy of Presidents A. Dzharimov, X. Sovmen and A. Tkhakushinov, as well as the religious life of the Slavic population of the republic: the activity of the Orthodox diocese and the emergence of Protestant denominations.

I. A. Vorobyova (IB RAS) reviewed the current situation of Orthodox communities in the Middle East. Increasing intolerance, harassment and physical violence against the Christian minority have led to a significant decline in the number of Christian followers in the region. Statistics indicate a massive outflow of Christians from these places. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Christians in the Middle East accounted for about a quarter of the region's population; in 2010, their number dropped to 5%, which is estimated to be between 12 and 15 million people, and these figures continue to decline rapidly. If the situation does not change, then soon Christianity will completely disappear from the places where it originated more than two thousand years ago. In Europe, the situation of Christians was noticed only after the events in Iraq, where by 2014 the number of Christians had halved to 400 thousand. Persecution of Christians intensified almost immediately after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. Radical Islamists accused Christians of collaboration, calling them "crusaders", "traitors" and "American collaborators". Attacks, kidnappings,

threats against them have become commonplace. Similar processes are taking place in neighboring Syria and Lebanon. In Jordan, the Christian population has declined by about 10%. The native Christian population of Palestine has rapidly declined. In Jerusalem, Christians make up only 2% (approximately 15 thousand inhabitants). There are only 2,000 Christians left in the Gaza Strip, which is just over 1% of the total population. In 2009, at a UN conference, the term "Christianophobia" was first used, and it has since entered the political lexicon.

L. Z. Taneyeva-Solomatshina (IB RAS) told about an expedition to India, where she studied the manuscripts of the Chishtiya Sufi order, which emerged here in the tenth century. This tariqa was founded in Afghanistan by Sufis from Syria, but later became widespread in India and neighboring countries. Among the Chishti sheikhs, the "five great" spiritual guides of the order, whose tombs are still places of worship, are particularly revered. Over the long history of existence in India, the Sufis of the Chishti order have absorbed into their tradition many local practices inherent in Indian mystics, so Sufi shrines are revered by both Muslims and representatives of other faiths. Muinuddin Chishti's dargah in Ajmer (India) is particularly popular, and many Sufi shrines are located in Ayodhya (India). In 2012, the President of Pakistan, A. A. Zardari, signed a check for dargah for $ 1 million. The murid (disciple) of this order was the Indian musician and mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927), who became a preacher of "universal Sufism" in the West. October 25, 2010 A terrorist attack was carried out near Baba Farid's mazar in Pakpattan, Pakistan, and the outlawed Tehreek Taliban-i-Pakistan claimed responsibility for it. In recent years, a number of sacred places for Sufis have been repeatedly destroyed by Hindus. Despite this, Sufi communities cherish ancient manuscripts that contain rich material that testifies to the history of Sufism in India.

During the expedition, L. Z. Taneyeva-Solomatshina had the opportunity to get acquainted with the collections of ancient manuscripts in different cities of India. A comparative study of the lists of Sufi texts allowed her to discover that some texts were modified due to external circumstances. This indicates that Sufis, living in a multi-ethnic society, constantly had to focus on changes in the internal political situation in India. The doctrine of the Chishtiya Order is not recorded in any one treatise. Initially, it was passed down from the teacher to the student by word of mouth, but later it was recorded in writing in conversations (malfuzat) of sheikhs with their novices or in letters-messages (maktubat).

N. A. Zamaraeva (IB RAS) in the report "Pakistan: on the issue of creating new provinces (political background and ethno-social features) " noted that the issue of creating new federal formations - provinces in the territory of modern Pakistan has been standing since the formation of the state in 1947. In 1970, General Yahya Khan pursued a strict policy of centralization of federal lands against the background of the Awami League party's actions in East Pakistan, which later led to the formation of the independent Republic of Bangladesh. Multan and Bahawalpur were incorporated into Punjab by order of the military administration, despite numerous protests that demanded separate status. It was in the 1970s that the national cultural movement for official recognition of the Shiraki language began. Multan has maintained its identity for hundreds of years, even before the arrival of Islam. This and other factors led to separatist sentiments in the local society. For more than 65 years of Pakistan's history, political parties have played the so-called minority card in the battle for votes. This is also the case today.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won a landslide victory in the 2008 general parliamentary elections. In Punjab, the PPP was poorly represented; its political opponent, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), on the contrary, was leading in representative government bodies. On the eve of the 2013 parliamentary elections, the PPP was realistic about its position, and it was clearly losing in Punjab. In advance, the party began to fight for votes. The PPP had a powerful administrative resource-its co-chairman was Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan in 2008-2013. In June 2011, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Federal Government established a commission to study the issue and develop the necessary legislative documents for the formation of a new province. Initially, its name appeared in the media Shiraki. It was supposed to include the southern and southwestern regions of Punjab, including Multan, Bahawalpur and Khan district. This is the geographical habitat of Siraki speakers, numbering approximately 20 million people, i.e. a significant part of the 190 million electorate of Pakistan.

PML-N rejected the question of administrative division of Punjab. Many in Pakistan believed that if the TNG officially announced the creation of the province of Siraki, it would be tantamount to opening a "Pandora's box". With such a decision, it will be difficult for the federal government to resist similar demands from other ethnic groups, such as Hazaras, etc. But the question of Siraki (later called Bahawalpur South Punjab) disappeared by itself. The reason is the lack of a legislative basis for the corresponding amendment to the country's constitution. The Federal Army of Pakistan can take power in its hands if the country is put on the verge of disintegration.

R. G. Landa made a closing speech at the round table. He noted that the discussion had been very fruitful and that it was planned to prepare a compilation for publication based on the participants ' presentations.

list of literature

Sharma R. Breakthrough economies. In Search of the Next Economic Miracle, Moscow, 2013.

Brazil-Africa: Booming business across the Atlantic // ASC Infosheel 18, 2013, www.asclcidcn.nl (дата обращения: 18.10.2013).

Interview with Chinese Ambassador Lu Youqua by MLMANI TV. Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in the United Republic of Tanzania // 2012-05-23 http://tz.china-cmbassy.org/cng/ztyx/jj/td34309htm (дата обращения: 1.06.2013).

WiTechs Worldwide Web Technology Surveys. March 2013 (accessed: 10.10.2013).

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